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Abstract

Premarital education in Malaysia is recognized as exemplary, given that it has become a model for the development of similar endeavors in other countries in Southeast Asia. Several studies have been conducted to evaluate the provision of premarital education in Malaysia. However, it was found that an evaluation through a moral-educational framework was missing, even though premarital education should be viewed as part of moral education. To fill this gap, this paper offers an analysis and assessment of Islamic premarital education in Malaysia through Sanger and Osguthorpe’s (2005) two-level framework. Data were collected from official documents, non-participant observation, and in-depth interviews with administrators, instructors, and class participants at the Premarital Course Centre TTDI, Kuala Lumpur. The findings showed the framework to be a powerful analytical tool. A clear picture was shown of Islamic premarital education as moral education, which at the same time threw light on its inconsistencies between (a) moral content, moral assumptions, and Islamic moral teachings; (b) moral content and programmatic ends; and (c) the method of instruction, psychological assumptions, and programmatic ends. These inconsistencies provide a basis for further development of Islamic premarital education as effective moral education in the future.

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